Latest 15 of 22 Total Comments Show All

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  borscht at 06:30 PM JST - 24th June

  Over the next few days I suspect we will discover the son, Shigeru, had some sort of problem that 'embarrassed' his father. Shigeru's on a 3-month leave of absence. This doesn't happen often.

  But why kill a four-year-old? With her life ahead of her and living with her extended family, she ends up dead. Pity and too, too sad.

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  bamboohat at 07:45 PM JST - 24th June

  Questions:

  Why is Shigeru listed as "her" son, yet the family is listed as "his" family? Why do a 49 y/o and a 44 y/o have a 4 y/o daughter? How can a 77 y/o man systematically bludgeon a whole family without anybody hearing something and running away?

  This story sounds a bit odd.

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  pathat at 09:06 PM JST - 24th June

  why JT put spotlight on this kinds of news anyway

  Because it seems as if other mainstream news sources too often do not want to, or are being forced not to.

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  uperjer at 10:10 PM JST - 24th June

  eff this guy for killing a little girl.

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  lipscombe at 10:24 PM JST - 24th June

  this is 10 minutes from my house...wtf

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  Sarge at 10:34 PM JST - 24th June

  I saw on the news tonite that the old man had beaten his granddaughter previously and that she had been told to stay away from him. He should have been locked up as soon as this came to light.

  Lips - Dontcha know there are crazies walking around everywhere? And you had better start watching your language, young lady! Ha ha ha!

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  KitsuneYoukai at 11:49 PM JST - 24th June

  Sounds like this old man had been holding back a lot over the years. On a note; How does a 77 year old overpower a 49 year old? Perhaps the son was sick.

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  Triple888 at 11:57 PM JST - 24th June

  How often do we see this kind of story?

  The Japanese family social structure seem to be breaking down. It's almost daily news that families break up like so.

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  medievaltimes at 12:00 AM JST - 25th June

  I saw on the news tonite that the old man had beaten his granddaughter previously and that she had been told to stay away from him. He should have been locked up as soon as this came to light.

  Dont know the details of this but could this be yet another case of an underdeveloped social system? Id like to know the background and details of this story...a lot of info is missing.

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  romulus3 at 12:12 AM JST - 25th June

  FOR generations Japanese criminal profilers have sketched the same images of tattooed yakuza toughs, middle-aged train gropers and little else. But now they are being forced to redraw the "usual suspect", and the picture that is emerging is of people wrinkled and grey.

  Last year people aged 65 and older were responsible for almost one in seven criminal offences, up from one in 25 a decade ago, and one in 50 in 1990.

  So dramatic has been the surge in crime by the country's pensioners that the Government has been forced to plan three new prison wards at Hiroshima, Oita and Takamatsu, each fitted with metal walkers and support rails to accommodate at least 1000 senior citizens. Money for the projects will come in part from an 8.3 billion yen package ($A85 million) to tackle Japan's superannuated crime problem.

  An old-age prison ward at Onomichi in the south of the country already houses 50 elderly prisoners. Given that the population in Japan is ageing more rapidly than in any other developed nation, authorities are anxious about how the prison system will cope in the future.

  Among the most common infractions by older felons are assaults, which have increased by a factor of 17 in the past decade, and shoplifting and pick-pocketing, incidences of which have jumped by a multiple of four.

  Criminal psychologists say only a small part of the "neo-geriatric" crime wave can be explained by the rapid ageing of Japan's population. According to the National Police Agency, the number of people 70 and older charged with a crime — the fastest-growing group — more than tripled between 2000 and 2006, from 9478 to 28,892. But the total number of people in that age bracket expanded by only about a third in the same period.

  The number of murders by those aged 65 and older climbed last year to 152, of which many were attacks by husbands or wives on a spouse. In November last year, an 80-year-old woman from Aichi Prefecture, who suffocated her 75-year-old husband while he slept, explained later that she was "fed up with being ordered around and made to do his work".

  Experts surmise, however, that in most cases, loneliness, frustration and financial hardship are driving Japan's old-age criminals.

  "Our senior citizens are finding it harder to get welfare assistance," says Koichi Hama, a professor of criminology at Ryukoku University Law School in Kyoto. "It's very difficult to live on their small pensions, so if they don't have relatives to support them they get backed into a financial corner and become isolated. They start shoplifting occasionally, then more and more."

  In extreme cases they resort to armed robbery. One man, who witnesses estimated was in his 70s, robbed a Nagoya convenience store at knife-point last November, using an upturned umbrella as a walking aid. He hobbled off with 50,000 yen and is still on the run, so to speak.

  A survey of elderly offenders arrested for theft in Hokkaido last year found that almost a third of them felt overcome by loneliness and they had thought that stealing might be a way to attract attention.

  Tomomi Fujiwara, who published a book last year called Bousou Roujin, which translates roughly as "Runaway Old People", told Japanese media that old people were finding it impossible to adjust to an information society, and were subsequently very frustrated.

  Some criminologists believe the breakdown of the traditional family living arrangement in Japan, in which elderly couples reside with their grown children and grandchildren, has also contributed to their feelings of alienation and depression. Often they are forced to care on their own for their invalid spouse.

  Last November, an 85-year-old terminal cancer patient from Amagasaki strangled his 80-year-old invalid wife with cord because he felt sure no one would care for her after his death. "I couldn't leave her on her own," he told police.

  So unappealing is the prospect of life after retirement for some that they resort to crime in the hope of winning a stint in jail, where they can receive free food and the company of people their own age.

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  romulus3 at 12:21 AM JST - 25th June

  Some criminologists believe the breakdown of the traditional family living arrangement in Japan, in which elderly couples reside with their grown children and grandchildren, has also contributed to their feelings of alienation and depression.

  I would be happy to live with my loved ones at that age. I wish my father was with me now. how could you feel alienated unless there was hate and bitterness towards you from your own children...yes, Japanese people cannot endure issues that are endurable and will change for the best if they just "gaman suru". They are weak and feeble minded and selfish also. they have no strength and little dignity. they are a fabrication of old and a spoiled bunch of pansies at best.

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  mtt at 01:19 AM JST - 25th June

  It seems most of these recent killers had a history of violent behaviors towards family members even before the crimes. They should pay more attention to boys/men who are prone to domestic violence and animal cruelty and get them into some therapy/training/counseling in the earliest stage. I've read about many Japanese boys who are violent towards their own mothers, which is unheard of in US. To me,Japan seems more tolerant of violent behaviors/speeches by boys/men in schools,homes and society.

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  Molenir at 01:19 AM JST - 25th June

  What can be said about crimes like this. The people who commit them, are simply monsters. He deserves the death penalty, and until he dies, ought to be completely isolated from society. No contact, not with anyone.

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  8iamhappy8 at 08:01 AM JST - 25th June

  Any one, other than me, thinks that these kinds of tragedies can be prevented with development of nursing homes for the elderly?

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  WilliB at 07:44 PM JST - 25th June

  I don`t think anyone who can swing a sledgehammer like that belongs in a nursing home.

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